Lossless Album - CD Box Set

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
The Supremes were Motown's most popular act, so there was much anticipation for a comprehensive box set, especially since Motown waited many years to assemble one. So, the question is, was the wait worth it? Almost. It's a lavish set, spanning four discs (five, if you include the limited-edition live bonus disc included with the first 25,000 sets), housed in a red-velvet plated book and boasting a 70-page booklet, plus alternate takes, original 45 mixes, and other rarities. The devil is in the details, though. Rarities are substituted for original hit versions; for instance, the original versions of "Stop! In the Name of Love" and "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" are not here. Then, there are the little omissions, like noting Elvis Costello's cover of "Remove This Doubt" in a list of great Supremes' covers, but not including the original. These curious choices, along with the decision to devote the fourth disc to post-Diana Ross material, makes the set feel a little incomplete, even though it covers a tremendous amount of ground. There are some classic cuts missing, and it's not a good thing that some of those missing items are the single versions of the hits. Still, it's hard not to like The Supremes as a set for hardcore fans, who will thrill to the different mixes and alternate versions, unreleased photos, Top Ten lists, and illustrated discographies. But for the listener looking for one exhaustive set containing all the Supremes they'll ever need, this set falls short of the mark. In fact, for that kind of listener, a good double-disc hits compilation remains a preferable choice over this set.

This soundtrack is all about atmosphere. Strings do the major lifting on many of the exploration, combat, and city themes as mentioned above, but the dungeons and night time themes are much more textural. Beyond atmospheric music, Soule delves into ambient or even new age at times with tracks like “Under the Ancient Sun” with its beautiful layers of strings and then to the big surprise of the Skyrim soundtrack, “Skyrim Atmospheres.” The entire fourth disc of this collection is dedicated to “Skyrim Atmospheres,” which is a 40+ minute continuous piece centered around swelling pads and the sounds of crickets, birds, wind, and rain. It’s a real trip to hear this style of music not only on the Skyrim soundtrack, but from Jeremy Soule. He could make a name for himself in the new age music market!

This three-disc set offers useful, intriguing insights into the man and his music. The notes include a biography and interviews with Jobim, producer Creed Taylor, and arranger and producer Oscar Castro Neves. The 55-song collection is organized in three parts: a disc of vocal performances (revisiting classics such as Jobim's duet with Elis Regina in "Aguas de Marco"), a disc of instrumental versions, and a volume featuring several readings, by different groups, of some of Jobim's best-known works.